


Puppy Love

by FrenchKey, JayofOlympus



Series: WinterHawk Week 2019 [6]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Love Confessions, Amnesia, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Idiots in Love, M/M, Nat is a good bro, No beta we die like mne, Nonbinary Character, Poor Timing, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Temporary Amnesia, pizza dog - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 00:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20787335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchKey/pseuds/FrenchKey, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayofOlympus/pseuds/JayofOlympus
Summary: A knock to the head leaves Bucky short a few memories. Again.Clint has a dog with a knack for cheering up even the grumpiest bastards, and sneaks him in to visit Bucky.





	Puppy Love

**Author's Note:**

> For WinterHawk Week 2019, Day 6, prompts 'Amnesia' and 'Accidental Confessions'.
> 
> We are a little late in posting here in the UK, but since it's still the 26th in some places, we're gonna call this a win. Enjoy!

‘Cap!’ Clint called as he barrelled down the hallway, ‘JARVIS said he was awake. How is he?’ He stopped next to Steve and stared in through the window. Bucky lay back on the bed, pale against the sheets. He didn’t look too good but at least he was awake. 

‘He’s not doing so great, Clint,’ Steve replied, putting a hand on Clint’s shoulder. ‘The docs were talking about amnesia.’

Clint grimaced at that. ‘That’s… not good,’ he said. ‘Do we… what does he remember? Do we know?’ If Bucky had lost too much time, then there were two equally awful outcomes. Either he thought he was back in the war, or he thought he was the Soldier.

‘He remembers fighting me on the Helicarrier,’ Steve sighed, ‘But he doesn’t remember coming in. He didn’t have the best reaction to seeing me either. Our best guess… somewhere near the beginning of the years he spent on the run.’

That wasn’t the worst outcome, Clint thought. If he remembered the Helicarrier, then he surely remembered dragging Steve’s ass out of the Potomac. They could work with that. Hopefully.

‘What now?’ Clint asked, watching through the window as Bucky sat perfectly still on the bed, staring blankly at the wall. He hadn’t tried to leave, or remove his IV, from what Clint could tell, which meant… something. Either he knew he was injured enough to need it, or he knew he was safe there.

‘He reacts badly to seeing me, which isn’t surprising given the last thing he remembers of me,’ Steve said. He sounded like he was aiming for stoic acceptance, but Clint could still hear the pain in his voice. He’d been without Bucky for so long. It was cruel for this to happen, especially after all of the progress Bucky had made. ‘The docs think that friendly faces will help, though. I thought… would you mind?’

Clint nodded slowly. That had to sting, he thought, to have to ask someone else to be there for his best friend. Steve wasn’t one to ask for help if he could avoid it, and to need someone else to take his place… Well, he had to be pretty desperate to ask Clint.

‘Yeah, Cap, I can do that,’ Clint said, patting Steve awkwardly on the arm.

Steve didn’t respond, and Clint shuffled toward the door, not entirely sure what he could do to help. His entire relationship with Bucky was built on shit-talking each other playing Mario Kart, and drinking coffee in complete silence at two in the morning. Of course, Bucky liked hanging out with Lucky too. Maybe sending the dog in would be a better plan.

Bucky didn’t react beyond a quick flick of the eyes when Clint walked into the room. He was unusually docile. Clint had become used to Bucky’s personality shining through in their interactions. This Bucky was eerily reminiscent of the way he had hidden in corners, black faced and watchful among strangers back when he had first joined them.

‘Heya, Bucky,’ Clint said with an awkward wave. ‘You doin’ alright? Got hit pretty hard back there.’

Bucky didn’t respond verbally, but his eyes slid over to Clint and his brow furrowed a little. Clint had to fall back on everything he remembered of this Bucky to interpret.

‘Okay, yeah, no, you’re right,’ Clint said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. ‘That was a dumb question. You’ve probably got a killer headache, and the doc says your brain’s a little scrambled. That’s kinda the definition of not alright. I really should have just brought the dog. I am really bad at this.’

‘The dog?’ Bucky asked. His voice sounded like grating sandpaper. It wasn’t a pleasant sound and Clint imagined that it probably hurt quite a bit.

‘Right, yeah, you don’t remember,’ Clint said, cheeks turning a little pink in embarrassment. ‘I got a one-eyed mutt called Lucky, and he’s the best. I’m pretty sure you like him more than me. Which is fair. Lucky’s awesome.’

Bucky made the face that Clint had always interpreted as a smile. It bore very little resemblance to an actual smile, but it still somehow conveyed the same emotion. ‘Dogs are good,’ he croaked.

‘Well, obviously,’ Clint scoffed. ‘But Lucky’s the _best_,’ he said with a grin. He wondered for a moment if he should switch to signing, to make it easier on Bucky’s voice, but then he remembered that _he_ had been the one to teach Bucky sign, and if Bucky didn’t remember meeting him, then he wasn’t likely to remember sign.

‘I would…’ Bucky began and then stopped. ‘He sounds like an acceptable companion.’ Clint was pretty sure he’d been planning to say something about wanting to meet Lucky. Seemed Bucky was back to being unable to articulate his desires. Crap.

‘That settles it then,’ he said with a decisive nod. ‘Gimme five minutes to go grab Lucky, and then maybe another five to try to smuggle him in. I’m absolutely sure Cap’ll look the other way if he spots me.’

It wasn’t until he was out of the room that he realised that mentioning Steve might not have been the best idea. Oh well, Lucky was cute enough to smooth over any anger Clint might have caused. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d taken advantage of Lucky’s puppy eyes.

Smuggling Lucky places had been much easier when he was actually a puppy. He was far too big to fit under Clint’s jacket and he had a habit of stopping to sniff at interesting corners at the worst times. They’d had to dodge several nurses and one gaggle of lab techs on the way back to Bucky’s room. Steve was still standing guard outside, but, as predicted, he turned to face the other half of the corridor as Clint snuck in, Lucky at his heels. Clint could see Steve’s smile reflected in the glass.

Lucky tried to jump up onto Bucky’s bed as soon as he was in the door, but Clint held him back.

‘No, buddy, we gotta stay on the ground,’ Clint said, shooting Bucky an apologetic smile. ‘Bucky’s got things sticking in him, and you’re as clumsy as I am.’

‘Can I?’ Bucky asked, extending a hand towards the ground.

‘Yeah, course you can. I’m gonna hang onto him though. He’ll just jump otherwise and then you’ll be in even more pain and I’ll be in trouble. He’s a disaster dog, really,’ Clint babbled.

Lucky nosed at Bucky’s hand for a moment and then licked his fingertips. That got an actual smile from Bucky and Clint had to resist doing a fistpump. Bucky started scratching behind Lucky’s ears. While he’d definitely lost his memory, he clearly hadn’t lost any of his subconscious habits as he zeroed in on all of Lucky’s favourite scratching spots. The dog waggled his backside in sheer ecstasy.

‘You’re a mooch, pooch,’ Clint said fondly. ‘So… uh, they told you what happened, right?’ he asked, turning to Bucky. ‘I really hope they did, otherwise I’m gonna seem a like a crazy person; waltzin’ in and rambling about a dog and shit.’

‘Told me some. You an’ me are pals. I live in Stark’s big ugly tower with a bunch of people who wear costumes and fight crime. Seems a bit unbelievable. It’s... ‘ he shook his head, ‘...I don’t remember it. But it clicks right? I dunno. I shouldn’t believe it. I shouldn’t trust you, or your dog, but…’ he broke off with a shrug.

Clint knelt down and buried his face in Lucky’s fur, hiding from Bucky’s gaze under the pretence of giving Lucky the attention he was begging for. It was a little overwhelming to know that Bucky trusted him, even in such awful circumstances.

‘Yeah, I… I get that,’ he said, taking his face out of Lucky’s fur, but not looking up. ‘Trust is… weird. But hey, who could possibly not trust this face?’ he added, scratching under Lucky’s chin in an effort to brighten the mood a little.

‘It’s a good face,’ Bucky said, nodding and leaning down to scratch under Lucky’s chin.

Clint laughed a little, watching Bucky’s face light up at the goofy full-body wiggle Lucky did, thrilled by the attention. ‘God, I love you,’ he said, the words slipping out before his brain could even catch up. He froze, eyes flying wide at the realisation of what he’d said.

Bucky’s brow furrowed in confusion. ‘Are we…?’ he asked, completing the sentence with a vague gesture between them. He was clearly trying to work out why no one had told him they were together.

‘I… wh… no, I just… that’s not…’ Clint stammered. When he saw the way Bucky watched him patiently, waiting for him to explain, his heart sank. He’d been in here for less than thirty minutes, and he’d fucked it up already.

Clint fled, leaving Bucky with his hand buried in Lucky’s fur. He tugged off his hearing aids as he went, not wanting to hear Steve asking what he’d done. God, he was so stupid.

He paced his living room for half an hour, wondering why he’d opened his stupid mouth. He’d gone and fucked things up when Bucky had only just woken up and barely even knew who he was. God, he didn’t have a clue who Clint was. He was such an idiot. He shouldn’t be allowed to talk to people, like, ever. He wondered if anyone would notice if he locked himself in his room and just didn’t come out again.

There was a knock at the door, and he froze. It was probably Nat, coming to tell him what a fuck up he was. At least sie would commiserate with him afterward though. If it was Steve, he’d give Clint that ‘Captain America is disappointed in you’ look.

It was Steve. He didn’t look too disappointed. Mostly confused, honestly. Clint sighed and refused to get off the couch. Steve did look a little disappointed at that but didn’t say anything. Instead, he dropped onto the other end of the couch and nudged Clint with his foot.

‘It’s not that bad, y’know,’ he said.

Clint gave him a baleful look. ‘You’re full of shit,’ he said. ‘That was… the worst. I’m the worst. I don’t know why I said that.’ He buried his face in his hands so that he wouldn’t have to listen to Steve.

Unfortunately, Steve was a super soldier and simply pried his hands away from his face. ‘Bucky was laughing, when I left,’ he said, simply.

‘Laughing ‘cause I’m a dumbass,’ Clint huffed. ‘God, he probably thinks I’m the biggest dumbass he’s ever met.’

Steve shrugged, ‘Maybe,’ he said, ‘But it’s the first time I’ve heard his laugh since 1944.’

Clint stared at him stupidly for a second, unsure of how to respond. He had heard Bucky laugh plenty since he’d come to live at the Tower. Mostly at Clint being a dumbass, but sometimes at the jokes he’d tell, or when they were shoving at each other trying to win at Mario Kart or whatever. Why didn’t he laugh around Steve?

‘My point is, I was expecting a full reversion to the way he was when he first came in. You’ve proved that he’s still got all that progress there, even if he doesn’t have his memories. So, thank you. Also, you have to go speak to him sometime if you want your dog back.’ Steve’s grin was just a little evil.

Clint shook his head. ‘Nope, no way. I absolutely cannot face him again,’ he said. ‘Lucky will come home when nobody else feeds him pizza. It’s why he likes me best.’ He didn’t want to face Bucky again. He couldn’t handle the embarrassment.

‘He’s not bothered,’ Steve said, shaking his head. ‘In fact, I think he was pretty flattered. Just think about it.’

He stood and patted Clint on the shoulder with a small smile, then left without another word.

* * *

Bucky sighed and scratched between Lucky’s ears, finally taking his eyes off the door. ‘I don’t think he’s coming back anytime soon, buddy,’ he said.

‘You’re almost certainly correct,’ a smooth voice said from behind him.

Lucky jumped up and ran over to where the Black Widow stood, watching them. Bucky could only assume that the dog knew hir well, given the way he danced around at hir feet.

‘Clint is… well, a bit of a disaster, to be honest,’ sie explained. ‘He most likely thinks you hate him now. No doubt he’s planning the best way to never leave his room again. His self-deprecation is the least charming part of his personality, but he’s otherwise a good match, if you’re interested.’

The look on hir face told Bucky that sie already knew whether or not he’d be interested. It was… off-putting, to have someone know his type better than he did, but he figured he’d remember soon enough.

‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ he muttered.

* * *

Two days later, Clint was still avoiding Bucky, and Lucky hadn’t come back yet. Clint was starting to suspect that Bucky had stolen his dog in revenge for his dumbassery. Which wasn’t fair. He’d stolen Lucky fair and square, and he didn’t appreciate anyone else stealing his dog.

Nat eventually turned up at his door and bribed him out. Sie promised pizza, beer and commiseration if he would just agree to leave the tower for a few hours. The elevator paused at Nat’s floor and sie asked him to wait while sie grabbed something from hir room. Clint was blindsided by Lucky coming barrelling along the hall towards him. He was so busy making a fuss of his wayward dog that he didn’t notice the fact that Bucky had followed him in until the doors were closing.

‘You were right,’ Bucky said, smiling a little. ‘Lucky is the best dog.’

Clint just stared, caught off guard.

‘You kinda hightailed it outta there pretty fast the other day,’ Bucky said. ‘You shoulda stuck around a little.’

Clint slapped the button to open the doors. Nothing happened.

‘Aw, Nat, no,’ he whined. ‘Sie’s not going to let us out, is sie?’

‘Nah,’ Bucky agreed, ‘Not till you tell me what your problem is. You don’t go around confessin’ your love to guys who don’t even remember you and then run away before they can get their head on straight.’

Clint slapped the button again, just in case JARVIS had decided to take pity on him. No dice.

‘I, ah… I don’t… that wasn’t…’ he stammered.

‘Eloquent,’ Bucky snorted. ‘That wasn’t what? The dumbest thing you’ve ever done? ‘Cause I remember enough to know that I’ve seen you do dumber.’

There was no way that was true. Clint thought for a moment and winced. It probably was true. He’d done some pretty dumb stuff around Bucky. A lot of it was accidental but some of it had been in the service of getting Bucky to laugh. 

‘I’m sorry?’ he offered.

‘For which dumb thing?’ Bucky asked with a laugh. ‘Personally, I think you’d be best bein’ sorry for the time you fell off the ceiling beams in the gym. That’s what I’d be sorry for. You almost landed on me.’

Clint spluttered. ‘You surprised me! I didn’t have my ears in.’

‘I never did it again. One instance of near squishing is enough for anyone!’ Bucky chuckled. ‘But yeah, if you gotta be sorry, be sorry for that. Not for saying something that I think you’ve been wantin’ to say for a while.’ He ducked his head a little as he finished.

Clint swallowed hard, casting around in his mind for any kind of response. ‘I still shouldn’ta dropped it on you like that,’ he said, burying his hands in Lucky’s fur for comfort. ‘That was… Yeah, I shouldn’ta done that. And I hope we can still be friends after this.’

‘I was kinda hopin’ we could be more,’ Bucky admitted softly.

Clint stared. ‘Uh…’ he said, words failing him.

‘Of course, if you didn’t mean it, that’s fine. I won’t be upset or anythin’, I still wanta be your friend, I just thought…’ Bucky babbled.

‘What? No! I mean, what? I’d… I’m… what?’ Clint spluttered. ‘I definitely wanna date you, but… what?’

‘Look, you’re funny and you’re smart, sometimes, and you’re competent with a whole load of weapons, and you’re really fuckin’ hot and, listen, I’ve got enough of my memories back that I’m pretty sure I’ve wanted to jump your bones for months and I’ve just been too chicken shit to say anythin’ and then I got walloped on the head and you got there first and just, please go out with me?’ Bucky said, all in a rush.

Clint nodded stupidly. ‘Yeah, no, yeah,’ he said. ‘That sounds… Yes. Let’s go out.’


End file.
